A good, used commuter car?

Totally Judy

Totally Judy

Joined
Dec 3, 2000
Messages
4,347
I decided it is time to get another commuter car. My 1995 Ford Aspire died a few years ago after 220K+ miles and 9-1/2 years of my driving it (bought it used). So I have been driving my pick'emup truck. Just had to replace the clutch a month or so ago, and now have to replace the A/C compressor. 131K+ miles on it, so I consider it normal wear and tear.

I would like either a small wagon, hatchback with rear seat fold down, etc., because with 4 Lhasa Apso munchkins to haul around on occasion, it would be nice to be able to fit some crates in the back.

I like buying pre-owned. Don't want to spend more than $12K if possible. I mostly drive highway miles to/from work.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!
 
I've got 3 girls ... and I've helped each one buy a used, smaller Honda or Toyota.

Nothing fancy, but each has proved affordable and extremely reliable. That reliability is very important to me; don't want the girls to have to fiddle around with repairs. The oldest one went, of course, to my oldest -- and is still running fine 8 years after it was bought (it was 3 years old when bought).

You should be able to do something similar "out there.";)

If it helps, my youngest is crazy over her Toyota Scion. It's the version that looks the sportiest and has plenty of room when the back seats are folded down. She's an artist and that back seat is ALWAYS down -- room for quite a few doggies back there!

I'm also partial to Subarus. I think they've got solid construction and a good engine.

Good luck!
 
A used Toyota would be perfect. I had a tiny little Tercel that I bought cheap. I ran it hard for a year and gave it to my Mom. She used it for 6 or 7years and it had about 200K when she finally put it to sleep. While we did have to do some maintenance (new alternator, tires, body work etc) we got like 8 years of driving out of a car we had a total of less than $4,000 into including the purchase price and all the repairs.

I love Subarus. We have had several in our family and my son has a 1998 Legacy Wagon right now. But they do require a lot more maintenance than the Toyotas I've had ever did. They do have AWD and the wagons hold a lot of stuff. Not quite as good on gas as the Toyota.
 
I have a Toyota Matrix which I love. It is very utilitarian, as its seats fold completely flat. You could probably pick up a 2005 or 2006 for about $12k. Alternatively, it may be easier to find a Pontiac Vibe. Virtually the same vehicle, but it won't sell for as much due purely to the name. I go camping quite a bit, and I can cram a lot of stuff in my vehicle, while still averaging 30 MPG.
 
There are some old Toyota Corollas from the '80s that are still running smooth. Top speed around 80mph. I'd probably go with a Toyota Echo, if you can find one. They're relatively cheap, small but roomy, and reliable.
 
You got 220K+ miles out of a Ford Aspire?
I would recommend a Honda CRV or a Subaru Forester- plenty of room + good gas mileage & dependable.
 
I'll be another to suggest Subaru. I love my '06 Impreza and I bet you could find a nice late 90s to early 2000s Impreza wagon pretty inexpensively. They're small but still pretty roomy and they live forever.

If that's too small, a late 90s Legacy wagon is very nice as well.

I honestly can't see myself ever driving something other than Subaru again.
 
If you do end up going Scion, as suggested earlier, they all get around 30MPG highway, and the XA (wedge shape) and XB (box shaped) and can both be found used for well under $8-$10k.

All models feature the bulletproof 4-cyl Camry engine, roomy interiors for their size, have more amenities than some of the similarly priced Toyota compacts.

I've had a tC since '04, and have been nothing but happy with the car, especially at it's $17,000.00 new asking price.
 
Rugger said:
You got 220K+ miles out of a Ford Aspire?
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Yup. Regular oil changes do wonders for a vehicle. That Aspire was only meant as a short term commuter and not expected to last very long. 9-1/2 years and 220K+ might be considered short term SOMEPLACE!

I went out and found my vehicle. A 2007 Ford Focus. It has everything that I wanted, PLUS cruise control and some internal securty thingie that won't let someone start it if they try to steal it. Don't ask me to explain, because I don't know how i works! 22K+ miles on it! I really had been considering a Focus ever since I had my Aspire and they stopped making them (Aspire).
Then I considered a Ford Escort but they discontinued them! So now I had no real choice except for the Focus.

:)

My neighbor, whom I had asked to drive me to look at vehicles, is a "Mini-me" type of person. If *I* have one, she wants, at the very least, exactly what I bought, or better if available. Gosh, guess who filled out an application and drove home in a 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Truck! Sheesh, her vehicle cost almost twice what mine did, and she makes about half my monthly salary. Whatever... Actually I think her new truck is really cool. When her sister finds out, the you know what will hit the you know what!
 
razcob said:
Any used Honda or Toyota.
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Pretty much. Helps if it was well maintained and not in any major accidents, so have your mechanic look at it.

I'd have to recommend:

Civic- I had one for 8+ years and it took abuse like you wouldn't believe, until I traded up to an Accord. Traditionally more "fun" than a Corolla.

Corolla- I know lots of people who have them and I've driven a few, the 2 most recent redesigns are actually really damn good while older ones are solid but quite boring

Scion tC - a friend has one. It looks sweet, has a pretty nice interior for a "cheap" car and is surprisingly peppy- performs well with 750+ lbs of people on board. No rear headroom, but with the back seats down it'll hold a LOT.

Matrix/Vibe - wife's coworker had one. He and his wife loved it so much they fought over it, so they bought another- now they have 2.

RSX - (don't, do NOT, get the Type S unless you want it stolen, the driver to total it, or like to buy abused cars). Had a couple of coworkers own them. Like the tC but with a nicer interior.
 
Well, here is an early morning, just woke up, picture taken from inside my fenced yard looking out:

MyNewRide.jpg


MyNewRide2.jpg


And my neighbor's cute little truck, taken from 2-1/2 acres away:

Eileensnewride.jpg



I'm exhausted.....
 
I understand the Focus is a solid car. I think you made a good choice ... and that time will prove you right.

Stay safe out there, young lady.:D
 
Thanks, Jamie.

I am very pleased with my choice. It is exactly what I wanted, and the cruise control is a wonderful bonus! I would not have picked red as my first color, but it is fine and a lovely color. Red has always been the color for my pick'emup trucks!
 
Excellent Judy! I had a Focus as a rental when some jackass nearly totalled my CRV a year or so ago- I really liked the Focus- really peppy & responsive.
 
4 Door 95 Civic LX with under 150,000. Should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200-2000 depending on the condition. With regular oil changes and proper matainence, that car will easily hit the 300,000 mark, probably further. I had mine for a year and I broke 1 part, the slave cylinder which was a 30min $60 fix. If you have the budget for it you could buy a newer one, but I wouldnt recomend going past about 97, they start to get really heavy.

Oh, and the best part about that car: If you drive right I averaged 40mpg fairly regularly over a whole tank. Never had a tank that got me less than 30mpg, and I was smashing around like a bat out of hell on that one.

I should read entire threads more often. Thats a nice looking car! There are a lot of great commuters out there and Ive always heard really good things about Focus' from my friends that own them.
 
Okay, so I bought my cute little red Ford Focus. Decided to name her "Lucy." Last night, the horn alarm started going off every 15 minutes. Huh? So I finally had to just leave the car unlocked. Same thing at work this morning.

So I called the Dealer, because I can't just go around and park my vehicle someplace and not secure it. And I don't want the horn alarm to go off every 15 minutes. "Bring it in right away and we'll take care of it." Awesome! I'm doing that in the morning (which is actually just a few hours away now).

I went to the Dealer's web page to get all of the pertinent information for my Palm (phone number, service hours, address, etc. etc.). While there, I decided to look at their inventory to see if my car was listed and maybe had "SOLD" across it. I had not been to their website before this morning.

Imagine my shock when I went to the "Used Car Specials" and there was a lovely photo and ad and it was MY NEW CAR. My mileage. My vin. My stock number.

873006.jpg


MyCar.jpg


A typical draw-the-folks-in ad - great car, low miles, etc. etc. and what appears to be a really low price. Come and buy this great car! The price was $2000 less than what I had negotiated. I was just sick about it. And angry. And I felt like I had been raped and pillaged and not even the courtesy of the kiss. The ad was designed to make a potential buyer believe, at first glance, that the car in the picture with the HUGE "$9,900" price by it, was the car a buyer could get for that low price. Yeah, read the entire ad closely....

I emailed my sales guy and expressed my extreme shock and disappointment to see my vehicle in the ad on their website. I told him that I really felt ripped off. I did not ask for a refund or any other consideration. I was just expressing my extreme disappointment. I did not expect anything to happen.

Mind you, this was Wednesday. I purchased my car last Friday. The ad says valid through July 12th (Sunday). I had no idea when it was posted on their web page. I looked at the ad more closely, had my boss look at it, and he agreed with me that the ad was misleading, as intended, but that it did say, "5 2007 Focus to choose from starting at $9,900." I had even looked at the Focus that they had for $9,900. And my Focus was not the one that started at $9,900. Okay, I felt better. I had been very comfortable, prior to seeing this ad, with the price I had negotiated. It was a fair price for the car I was getting. I probably could have gotten down and dirty and held out for a lower price, but fair is fair and I was happy. Well, I WAS happy before. Not now.

2:45 pm Wednesday (yesterday?) - my sales guy calls me back and said, "Your name was all over the dealership today! Service, Finance, the Manager - everyone is calling me! The dealership realized that they had made an error in their ad. It was put up on Saturday, the day AFTER I had purchased the car. They no longer had that vehicle to sell. But it was sure in their ad. Anyway, the B.S. line they are selling me is that because they know how happy I am with my car and they want me to stay happy - they are going to re-write my contract and take $1,995 off of the price of the vehicle. Just because they want me to be happy. :rolleyes: Oh, and because I actually saw the ad.

I'm a woman. I'm stupid. It would never occur to me that maybe they are doing this to avoid some legal not-so-niceties because they screwed up, and it is cheaper to "honor the ad price" than to get sued for fradulent advertising. Again, I'm just a woman, what do I know about the real world of used car sales and MEN. Not that I would have even considered sueing them. Heck, for all I knew, the ad had gone up on their web site on Friday morning. They had just gotten the car as a trade in a day or so before, and it wasn't "certified" until Friday morning, the day I bought it.

I hope I don't disillusion any of you because I'm gonna take the contract re-write. I'm gonna take the $1,995 off the price I negotiated, and drive off into the sunset. Heck, yeah. There is a reason why my horn alarm starting going off 5 days later and I was drawn to their web page for the first time. I can take a hint that someone wanted this to happen.

I have no idea of the legal ramifications for a car dealership if they intentionally or accidently post a misleading or fraudulent ad. What I do know is that they would rather re-write a contract and "honor the ad price" just to keep me happy!

My mama didn't raise no fool. I didn't ask for the $1,995 or any refund. But since they offered, I accepted. My mama also taught me that it is rude to not graciouisly accept a gift one is given, as it would hurt the feelings of the giver. And I don't want to hurt the feelings of anyone at the dealership by refusing the $1,995!

How about them apples? :D
 
TheSodaJerk said:
4 Door 95 Civic LX with under 150,000. Should be somewhere in the neighborhood of $1200-2000 depending on the condition. With regular oil changes and proper matainence, that car will easily hit the 300,000 mark, probably further. I had mine for a year and I broke 1 part, the slave cylinder which was a 30min $60 fix. If you have the budget for it you could buy a newer one, but I wouldnt recomend going past about 97, they start to get really heavy.
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For Civic's, 97-00 was one design generation. There was a minor midlife refresh that took effect with the '99's, so 97-98 and 99-00 have slightly different interiors and taillight arrangements but otherwise they're the same car.

The previous generation (up to '96) is also mechanically pretty much the same car, for the '97 redesign they more or less just changed the body and interior making it maybe a little roomier, maybe a little more upscale-looking, but definitely heavier.
 
Ford Focus. :thumbup: You can get them brand new for about $16k, used you should be far under your limit.
 
Totally Judy said:
I have no idea of the legal ramifications for a car dealership if they intentionally or accidently post a misleading or fraudulent ad. What I do know is that they would rather re-write a contract and "honor the ad price" just to keep me happy!
Click to expand...

If I were you, I'd be happy that they are giving you a discount as there is no legal obligation for them to do so. There was no fraud involved, because although they listed your car in the ad, they did say five to choose from starting at $9,999. It is like how Applebees can say they have five great meal deals starting at $6.99, and you show up only to find out that one is $6.99, and the other four are $10.99. Same deal applies. It is up to the consumer to find out and agree to the price.

Personally, I'd say the bigger concern is the horn problem. Even if they got it fixed, hopefully that is not a sign of things to come.
 
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